Pondering on Emptiness

About Me

A semiconscious electronic documentation of radical spontaneous manifestation vis-a-vis the collective subconscious.

Blogs I follow:

1. Epistemological Meditations: Neuroplasticity, Semiotics and Existentialism

   The Buddha once said that “what we think, we become”.  What truly does this imply?
   
   Thoughts are, as it is, reflective upon our perception of the world.  Heidegger poses this question in his famous work Being and Time, stating “Does time itself reveal itself as the horizon of being?”
   
   Certainly this is the case of being and time, they are one in the same, or to use a popular Zen metaphor ‘two sides of the same coin’.
   
   If time is being (being-time as Dogen would put it), then our thoughts, actions and everything encompassed within our being-time then affects how we interact within the world.
   
   The proper question from here is, can we be within any other time besides this moment? And of course, no, we cannot be. But how often do we think beyond this time, into previous experiences and future expectations? The only time one can ever experience is the here, and now.
   
   Our time-being then, is the most important focus of consciousness.  All moments are reflected, future and past, within this very moment.  We change all of time with our very being now, and so one can realize that this moment is the most important moment.  Trying to live within any other moment is futile, and leads to delusion, jealousy, greed, anger, and other negative emotions.
   
   Modern science furthers this point with the discovery of how plastic our brain is to input. Depending on our time-being, our brain changes accordingly.  We literally shape our own world, internally, and externally.  This signifies that our interpretation of the world is also the world. There is no difference between our interpretation and what it is.

   This is how cultures clash- the symbols, signs and languages are living social beings.  Beings in different cultures live in radically different ‘worlds’, and the point here is not to unify the semiotics of each culture, but rather understand this semiotic interaction, and therefore create a new world of understanding through emptiness. 
   
   Why emptiness? It allows one to see the world as it is, without a ‘cultural lens’ that distorts our being-time.  The cultural lens distorts our perception of what really is and so the most important action we can take is right now, at this very moment.  This existential crisis is not simply individual, but societal.  The two reflect each other as well, so let us learn to appreciate this moment in peace, compassion, and deep understanding.  This will reflect onto the rest of the world, and through all time, do not let the symbols of your culture, of your heritage to blind you to the peace that is already within you.  You do not have to hate or love your culture, but simply accept it for what it is, a complex interaction of historical symbols. Inherently, these symbols do not focus on this moment, but rather focuses on the dead who proceeded us under the same symbols.

   Find peace within yourself, and it will reflect onto the whole world. Be here now, and never loose focus of the importance of now. Do not let your own mind be led by the future or the past, empty your mind, focus here and now, and you will realize the infinity of now, and the boundless joy of the Way.
   
   Namaste friends.